Bisping Admits Taking Gastelum Fight on Short Notice Was a Mistake

Michael Bisping lost his UFC middleweight title at UFC 217 to Georges St-Pierre. Just three weeks after his brutal submission loss to the fighter, “The Count” was back inside the octagon to face another opponent. That being said, things did not go well for the former champion that time around either. Now looking back on it, Bisping believes taking the short notice match up may have been a mistake.

After suffering his title ending loss, “The Count” accepted a short notice main event match up against Kelvin Gastelum for UFC Fight Night 122 in the UFC’s debut event in Shanghai, China. However, Gastelum earned a devastating first round knockout victory over his opponent. Now “The Count” has decided to come forward and give his thoughts on the matter.

Speaking on his podcast Believe You Me, Bisping explained that he believes his ego played a role in him accepting such a short notice fight just after a tough loss.

“It didn’t go my way, as everybody knows and saw. I felt great going into that fight, I did. Looking back in hindsight, was I overtrained and emotionally and physically tired? Yes I was, but the problem with having a f**king huge ego and thinking you can still beat people is that I knew that but I still thought I could beat Kelvin Gastelum. Not taking anything away from him. He caught me with a beautiful left hook that put me down. God bless him.

“It was a big gamble, it didn’t pay off. Had it paid off it would have been great but that’s what you do. You roll the dice, you give it a shot, and you hope for the best, and the best man, I guess that was Kelvin so well done to him.”

Michael Bisping then offered his thoughts on why he took the fight up in the first place.

“That fight was me trying to exorcise some inner demons and try and get back in the win column ASAP. As I said, it was a huge gamble and for many reasons it was the wrong move, but I don’t regret it. If you look at the grand scheme of things . . . I can see that it was the wrong move, but at the time it felt right, so I don’t regret it.

“After the GSP fight, when I agree to take the Kelvin Gastelum fight, I thought, ‘Well, I just had a week off but I was in great shape, so let’s get right back to it,’ and I sparred everyday for a week. That’s all I did for Kelvin, Southpaws, five rounds, for five days, and then I flew out to China, and I was just done. Emotionally, physically, mentally, I was just spent.”

Bisping then offered some words on the future.

“I’m not looking to become champion again, I’m looking to finish off my career with a couple of fun fights. I went out there, I didn’t get the job done. I couldn’t give a f**k about rankings. I’m not trying to be the champion again. I had that, that was fun, it was a nice time in my life, I can always claim to have had that title, and now it’s time to move on with my life.

“I’m totally fine with it. I’m 38 years old. I’ve got a wife and kids.” Michael Bisping continued. “I’ve got other things I want to focus on in life. Will I do one more fight? Yeah, probably. But that phase of my life now is done and I’m happy with that. . . You can’t fight forever. I was a champion, no one remains a champion forever, and I’m proud of that.”